It’s taken off in the US. Now a group of UK farmers are hoping grass-fed meat will be the next big thing here following the launch of a new logo to promote the benefits of traditional, pasture-based rearing methods.

The Pastoral brand, developed by the Pasture Fed Livestock Association, has been rolled out to a small number of farm shops and independent butchers over the past month.

Packs of PFLA-certified meat carry the Pastoral logo as well as a QR code, which consumers can scan with their smartphones to access detailed information about the meat.

The logo can be used only on beef and lamb reared entirely on pasture, without the use of cereal grains or soya, and animals from approved suppliers are tagged with a specific PFLA number.

At present, only 12 farmers are certified by the PFLA but the organisation hopes to recruit between 300 and 500 over the next two years. The PFLA ran a small consumer sales trial and marketing campaign earlier this year, which included PoS about Pastoral in independent shops. It plans to run a bigger campaign once it has established a wider supplier base.

PFLA director John Turner said a move to pasture-based systems would help reduce farmers’ reliance on volatile grains markets. “This will significantly reduce their costs and protect them from the volatile fluctuations in the price of feedstuff traded globally,” he added.

The PFLA also claims pasture-fed meat contains fatty acids and antioxidants that benefit human health.

The PFLA was set up as a community interest group 19 months ago and has since developed a set of standards for grass-based rearing systems. In the US, where grain is fed more extensively than in the UK, meat marketed as grass-fed is now a significant niche market.

Topics